Houvenaghel won her second successive event in Melbourne

Wendy Houvenaghel won her second successive World Cup individual pursuit to take gold for Great Britain in the Melbourne leg of the track series.

In the final Houvenaghel overhauled New Zealand's Alison Shanks, who beat her to the world title in Poland in March.

Chris Newton was fifth in the points race after a group of four gained a lap on the pack but he still leads overall.

GB dominated the opening leg in Manchester but have sent a small squad to the second event of the series.

Jess Varnish, on her 19th birthday, took GB's place in the women's sprint in the absence of world champion Victoria Pendleton, finishing 11th.

606: DEBATE What do you make of GB's results from Melbourne?

The rest of Britain's 12-strong team in Melbourne are in action on Friday and Saturday.

Houvenaghel, who comes from Northern Ireland but is based in Cornwall, played a part in winning two of the 10 gold medals GB took from 17 events in Manchester.

As well as winning the individual pursuit, she joined Joanna Rowsell and Lizzie Armitstead to set a new world record in the team event.

Those 10 golds ensured Great Britain have already qualified those spots for the World Championships in Copenhagen next March.

Many of the top riders have opted to train at home rather than endure the long-distance travel involved in taking part in the rest of the series, while others have commitments in road racing.

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